Outing someone can be one of the most damaging things to happen in a person’s life. Skye Wyatt, a Texas high school student, was outed by two of her softball coaches to her mother back in 2008. After she was consequently kicked off of her softball team, Wyatt and her mother decided to sue the school for violating privacy rights. Last week they settled for a sum of $77,000. While this can be seen as a victory for LGBT tolerance, it doesn’t cover up the pain suffered by its victim. At the time of the incident, Wyatt became extremely depressed, which led to self harm.

People must realize that it is not their place to out someone who’s closeted. Coming out is a long process that one has to come to terms with within him or herself, and to ruin this process for someone is not just damaging, it’s deplorable.

Outing a person to their family can be disastrous, because the reaction of the family can be extreme. If a family is unaware of their child’s orientation and that child is subsequently outed, it can lead to the child being kicked out of their family home, disowned by their loved ones and even physically harmed. The repercussions that come from somebody being outed can ruin a person’s life.

Wyatt’s story does send an important message. It shows that if someone is outed, those responsible can expect serious legal trouble. As the Civil Rights Project legal director who worked on Wyatt’s case said, “In this day and age, we have athletes coming out, and sexual orientation is front and center. Any school or entity that doesn’t educate its employees on privacy rights involving sexual orientation is opening itself up to danger.”

Overall, the case can be seen as a victory, but this does not erase the emotional scarring that Wyatt had to face. Outing someone is an extremely serious issue, and now that we are starting to see legal consequences, it shows that outing someone for their sexual orientation is no longer a socially acceptable thing to do.

dhaynie@mavs.coloradomesa.edu